In an era when Formula One is constantly chipping away at its history and heritage in favour of highest bidders for hosting a race, it's with celebration as well as excitement that greets a Silverstone British Grand Prix.

The venue for the first ever Formula One world championship race has changed a lot since Nino Farina triumphed in his Alfa Romeo on a disused airfield but then so has the sport - and not just in its visuals.

It's been 15 years since Britain last heard Murray Walker give his typically enthusiastic 'shoot from the hip' commentary to such worldwide appeal, it made him the unofficial voice of Formula 1.

Murray Walker retired from his position as a Formula One commentator in 2001. Here the broadcaster sits as he prepares for action ahead of the 1999 French Grand Prix at Circuit de Nevers in Magny-Cours

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But as Silverstone welcomes F1 this weekend, it's with a hint of sadness that anybody roughly under the age of 20 - a whole generation - would not have had the chance to hear the master live at work.

Let's be clear, the jobs done by current leading commentators Ben Edwards and David Croft are enjoyable in their own way.

But only Murray could make Jean Alesi running out of fuel while not in contention for a win sound as exciting as if the Frenchman had deliberately crashed into a Benetton team-mate and stuck two fingers up at team boss Flavio Briatore in the process.

So with the heavy weight of nostalgia I had to at least ask Walker if he would be at Silverstone this weekend and if there was at least some chance of a comeback - even if it was just for the last few laps of a race.

Walker is signed up to Channel 4 as a pundit for their coverage of the 2016 Formula One season

'No, I'm not going to be there, for two reasons,' Walker told Sportsmail. 'One is I'm an old man and getting around isn't as easy as it used to be. Four days at Silverstone is very hard work. I’ve also got a psychological block.

'When I was on TV I was always lucky to be at the centre of it all and to know everybody and everybody knew me and I could talk to anyone. That is not the case now. I miss it.'

The last three words in particular are hard hitting but also telling. Walker will be 93-years-old in October but even though he can no longer broadcast, his passion for the sport remains as high as ever.

F1 has been dominated by Mercedes since 2014 and even though Walker admits to being bored of their success, he admits still having the same enjoyment while watching grand prix racing as he ever did.

Walker has admitted he would rather see another team other than Mercedes winning, as Lewis Hamilton celebrates victory at the Austrian Grand Prix. Mercedes have won eight of this season's nine races

The only non-Mercedes victory came courtesy of Red Bull's Max Verstappen, pictured with father and former F1 driver Jos, following his win at the Spanish GP this year. Walker has dubbed the 18-year-old a future star

'I think we have had an excellent season. I make no bones about the fact I would like to see someone else other than Mercedes-Benz winning,' Walker added.

'But having said that, Mercedes-Benz are reaping the rewards which they are fully justified. They have done a better job than the other teams and it’s up to them to catch Mercedes.

'Probably the most exciting the race this year notwithstanding the collisions between Rosberg and Hamilton was Max Verstappen’s victory. Totally unexpected and a quite brilliant achievement from a star of the future.'

There is perhaps no better man on the planet to judge Formula One through the ages, with Murray having watched grand prix racing before the advent of the world championship.

Walker has seen the transformation of the sport first hand. It stretches from an era when Stirling Moss effectively handed the 1958 world championship to fellow Brit Mike Hawthorn following an act of sportsmanship, to the bitter inter-team feuds seen between team-mates today.

Murray explains when he feel the sport started to change and ultimately lose its fun factor in favour of boosting the bank accounts.

'I can’t put a date on it but when I began commentating on Formula One it was essentially a sport for wealthy amateurs.

'It all started to change with the advent of Bernie Ecclestone who realised as a team owner that his rival team owners were going to make decisions to benefit their team rather than the sport.

Mercedes team-mates Hamilton (right) and Nico Rosberg collide at the Austrian Grand Prix in their latest on-track collision, with Walker admitting Formula One has lost much of its sportsmanship from its early years

'Bernie gradually took over by sheer hard work, ability and persuasiveness and built it into what it is now where countries all over the world are vying to have an F1 race. But in the process a lot of the fun and, for want of a better word, the sportsmanship has disappeared from it.

'In those days all the drivers from the different teams travelled together. Their wives would have been with them and they would all have dinner together.

'They stayed in the same hotels and there was camaraderie and a fraternity, the like of which doesn’t exist now because the sport is so money oriented - and because the drivers are prohibited from speaking their minds often on account that it may offend sponsors.

'So what’s happened is very understandable but in some ways it’s very regrettable. But F1 to me is still as attractable as it ever was – just different.'

You would think after admitting that F1 has lost its fun since its amateur days, that Walker would have a fondness for the early years of grand prix racing but there is no hesitation in his voice when he explains his favourite era of Formula One.

'Oh the 80s,' the Channel 4 pundit joyfully snaps. 'You had Nelson Piquet, Nigel Mansell, Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost - all world champions, all racing against each other in cars much more culpable than which they are now. We had some brilliant races in the 1980s'.

And just to prove Walker's exuberance doesn't fade into the 1990s, his autobiography reveals that the 1992 Monaco Grand Prix, where Senna held off Mansell in a frantic final few laps was his favourite to commentate on, while Michael Schumacher's first Ferrari win in the rain hit 1996 Spanish GP was his most impressive.

While I am given an easy answer on his most memorable era of F1, there is a hesitant pause of a few seconds when I ask him for his favourite grand prix since retiring from the commentary booth.

'Jenson Button winning in the Brawn at Monaco during 2009,' Walker eventually reveals with an assured certainty.

'Because Jenson Button is a lovely bloke, the nicest in F1 who had this fairy tale story of the Brawn team rising from the ashes of Honda and beating everybody. And for that to happen at Monaco, the creme de la creme of races was quite incredible.'

Watch the British Grand Prix on 10th July live on Channel 4, the new home of free-to-air Formula 1 in the UK with live coverage of ten Grand Prix this season and comprehensive highlights of every race weekend. Visit f1.channel4.com for more information.